Learning from home — as we all know — is not easy. Especially in the last few weeks, I have found it increasingly difficult to stay motivated, focused, and organized; my brain is wired so that as soon as the sun goes down at 4 p.m., I don’t want to do any more work. Throughout the quarantine period, I have changed many things in my learning routine to try to increase my productivity. Here are what I have found most helpful:
Separate working and living
With a full house, I do my online school from my room. I found it really helpful to try and separate my working space from my living space to train my brain into knowing when it is time to work. When I am at my desk in my room, I try my best to make sure I am working whenever I am sitting there. If I want to go on my phone or watch a video, I shift over to my bed (admittedly, it is less than a foot away) to do so. To help reinforce this, I keep my phone plugged in next to my bed when I have a large chunk of work I need to tackle all at once. This has helped keep me focused on my work when I am at my desk and makes me consider when I really want to take a break and look at my phone.
Keep your working space clean
I have learned that a clean working environment is pretty essential for me. Since I am in my room for hours a day, having a clean and organized space makes it easier for me to hone in on my work. When there are clothes on my floor and things strewn across my dresser, I get easily distracted and want to clean that instead of doing my work. In my opinion, the best place to start is making your bed; even if the rest of the room is a mess, a made bed can transform the space and make you feel more put together.
Fill the space with things you love
I have become a candle fanatic in the past few months; I almost always have one burning in my room because I like the cozy environment it helps create. I’m especially partial to wood wick candles for a little bit of ambient background noise.
I also enjoy having flowers in my room. If I am coming off of or expecting a difficult week, I will buy a relatively cheap bouquet of flowers from the grocery store just to add a bit of color and life to the room.
Use the Pomodoro technique
On days I find it particularly difficult to focus on my work, I use a Pomodoro timer, sometimes called a 
tomato timer. This timer is a psychological trick that improves your productivity. When you start the timer, you work for 25 minutes, and then take a short five minute break. After four cycles, you get a longer, ten minute break. A lot of these timers can also be customized to have different work and break periods. For me, this timer makes it easier to stay focused on a task because I know that I have a break period coming up. When I dictate my own breaks, they go on for much longer and occur much more frequently than they probably should. By staying focused for 25 minute periods, I can get a lot more work done.
Plan out your week
On asynchronous Mondays, the first thing I do is preview what I have for the week. I check what days I have work, tests or quizzes, workouts, or anything else that will take up time. This way, I can prioritize longer assignments and studying based on what days and times I have available. Also, I can plan days where I have more free time to give myself a break from work. For example, if I have a big test on a Thursday, I will try to get assignments done before that day so I can use Thursday night to decompress and do some things that aren’t school related as a reward.
While these tips and many more can help you get your work done more efficiently and effectively, it’s important to remember that even when you are doing everything “right,” there are still going to be days when you are not as productive as you think you need to be that day. That’s okay. It is unrealistic to believe that every day is going to be perfect and that you will function at the highest capacity. But, there are ways to set yourself up for success to maximize your working ability.
jkbanas says:
Megan, thanks for sharing what tricks work best for you during online learning! I think many obviously share the same viewpoint that online learning is not easy, and this is a great insight into how we can combat difficulties we experience surrounding it! Personally, I am going to try the Pormodoro technique. I think this could help my productivity a ton! Thank you for sharing.
December 6, 2020 — 9:39 pm
immarcus says:
Megan, I definitely relate to the struggle of trying to be productive. Like you, I cannot have my phone with me while I am working. I literally throw my phone to the opposite side of the room when I start a college essay, because I find those especially difficult to write–I know I will get bored or give up and reach for my phone. I also do school in my room, so I have unfortunately blurred the line between working and living. For both of my first period classes, I usually attend from bed because I find them easier than my later classes. I also sometimes do homework in bed because I am so tired of my desk. I look forward to using the Pomodoro technique this week to improve my productivity, and I have one tip of my own. I plan out my weeks like you, but I use a whiteboard calendar to plan out all of my tests and extracurricular activities of the entire month. This way, each day I receive homework, I know how it balances against my schedule.
December 7, 2020 — 3:31 am
rbazarcon says:
Some of these tips are really interesting and I have never tried them before. In particular, having a separate working and living space is intuitive as physically being in a different space designated for a specific task helps you focus more on what you need to do. In addition, filling your space with things you love like flowers you in your example sounds like an interesting tip, but for me might not work out as I could get distracted more easily. As for the pomodoro technique and planning my week out, those techniques have been very helpful in ensuring I stay productive and get things accomplished on time.
December 8, 2020 — 12:24 am
abtolia1 says:
This checklist is almost all what I haven’t been doing. It makes sense to do all of these, but unfortunately I simply haven’t been thinking about it. Luckily, I have kept my desk clean and stuff orderly but I usually never keep work and living separate. I’ve tried using the Pomodoro technique, but it usually ends up with me forgetting about the timer and just working at my own pace. It’s a great technique when strictly follow but it might just not fit my working style. However, overall, I think the tips which you gave would be pretty useful, and I hope to take these into account.
December 8, 2020 — 3:09 am
nswollerli says:
This post is so helpful! I have found it really difficult to focus during online learning, I enjoy learning online and being able to work ahead but the senioritis is creeping in quickly and it makes it hard to get work done. I think the timer is going to be a technique that I think will really help me get work done faster. Your flower idea is also so cute! I totally know how you feel with the candles and flowers and think it is amazing that you’re treating yourself! Thank you for the tips:) they are much needed and appreciated!
December 8, 2020 — 3:21 am